Wire-spoke heading and bending machine



Dec. 9, 1924.

'A L. OLSON WIRE SPOKE HEADING AND BEND ING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 19224 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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A. L. OLSON WIRE SPOKE HEADING AND BENDING MACHINE Filed Feb, 20. 1922 4Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. flzell. 0150a A TTORNEYS. .%W V M A. L.OLSON WIRE SPOKE HEADING AND BENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 0, 1922 4Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. .flxel Z. Olson rnlll 0 C y m grromwsys.

Dec, 9, 192 4.

\ A. L. OLSON WIRE SPOKE HEADING 'AND BENDING MACHINE 1 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Feb, 20, 1922 Y INVEN TOR. .fizeZ L. 06500 fi p ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES H 1,518,869 PATENT OFFICE.

AXEL L. oLsoN, or nssnx, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO THE NATIONAL sonnw ANDTACK COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

WIRE-SPOKE HEAIDING AND BENDING MACHINE Application filed February 20,1922. Serial No. 537,888.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that AXEL L. OLSON, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Essex, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut,has invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Wire-Spoke Headingand Bending Machines, of which the followin is a specification.

lily invention relates to improvements in wire forming machines and moreparticularly in a combined wire heading and bending machine for formingwire spokes for wheels of bicycles or other vehicles.

In the manufacture of wire spokes for wheels of this class a relativelight but strong steel wire is employed, which is first taken from aroll, straightened and cut to required lengths according to the size ofthe wheels in which they are to be used. The wire lengths are then runthrough a second machine wherein one end portion of the spokes arethreaded. My improved machine is designed. and employed for performingthe neXt and final operations of heading and bending the spoke whichcompletes the same.

The object of the invention therefore is to provide an automatic machinewhereby the heading and bending operations'may be readily performed. Thepreviously'jcut lengths of wire are placed in a hopper from which theyare fed down into and through the machine which performs the heading andbending operations and drops the fin ished spokes therefrom in rapidsuccession. The machine is particularly designed so that the twooperations are performed simultaneously by different sets of mechanismand so that with each rotation of the main-shaft of the machine acomplete spoke is produced. This Obviously .means that if the machine istimed to make 275 revolutions a minute there will be an equal number ofspokes produced.

A further object is to design the machine so as to protect the delicate,expensive form- 'ig tools of the machine against breakage or injuryshould it for any reason become jammed or otherwise stuck, therebyinsuring a steady production from the machine hour after hour and dayafter day with a comparative small amount of repairs.

iVith these and other objects in view the invention resides and consistsin the construction and novel combination and arrangements of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it beingunderstood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minordetails .of construction within the scope of the claims may be resortedto without departure from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

Similar characters of reference denote like or corresponding partsthroughout the several figures of the accompanying drawings forming apart of this specification, and upon which,

Fig. 1 shows a plan view of my improved spoke heading and bendingmachine;

Fig. 1 shows the side view of a wire spoke such as is headed and bent onmy improved machine;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine seen from the near side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view showing the heading andforming mech anism, as seen on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the machine as seen from the opposite sideof Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail central longitudinal sectional view taken on line 5-5of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the machine as seen from the right of Fig.1, the hand operating wheel being removed, and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 1, throughthe hopper, feeding, heading and bending devices.

Referring in detail to the characters of reference marked upon thedrawings, 10 represents apedestal which serves to support the main bed11 of the machine and to which additional attached fixed parts aresecured forming brackets, guide ways, bearings, etc. for movable membersof the ma chine as will be again more specifically referred to.

12 represents the main driving shaft which as will be seen is mounted.in suitable bearings 13 secured to the under side of the bed 11. Thisdriving shaft is provided upon one end with a frictionally mounteddriving pulley 14 and upon the other end with a gear 15 that meshes withand drives a large gear 16 upon the Operating shaft 17 positionedimmediately above it. The driving pulley is provided with opposedconical bearing faces 18,, one of which is engaged by a conical facedcollar 19 secured to the driving shaft 12 while the other conicalbearing similarly engages a like collar 20 also mounted upon the shaftto form a bear ing for the outer end of the wheel hub. This last namedbeveled face friction collar 20 is slidable on a key secured to theshaft and is held in engagement with the conical friction face of thepulley by means of spring 21 positioned between the said collar 20 and anut 22 secured upon the outer end of the driving shaft. The purpose ofthis spring is to afford a frictional engagement as between the drivingpulley and the shaft to insure the turning of the latter under ordinaryoperative conditions but it is sufiiciently yieldable to permit thedrivin pulley to slip upon its bearing should the machine become jammedor locked. This obviously provides a safety friction drive for themachine as a whole and prevents serious damage in its operation, to anyof the parts therein.

The operating shaft 17 is mounted in bearings 23 upon the top side ofthe machine bed and in addition to the gear 16 before all) mentionedcarries a. bevel gear 24 upon its opposite end and a cam 25 positionedintermediate of the said bearings 23 and substantially central of thebed of the machine. The gear 16 includes an eccentric 26 having a linkconnection 27 with a slide 28 mounted to reciprocate in a pocket 29 ofthe bed of the machine said pocket being enclosed by a plate 30 (seeFigs. 1, 2 and The purpose of this slide as will be later more fullydescribed, is to actuate an oscillai'io-ry lever 81 which in turnoperates the movable holding die against which the wire is headed[ Thebevel gear 24 meshes with and drbzes a similar gear 31 upon an actionshaft 32 journalled in bearings of brackets 83 two of which are securedto the bed of the machine and the third of which is secured to anextended frame 34 secured to the main bed of the machine. This bevelgear 31 is secured to a sleeve 35 loosely mounted upon the action shaftand has a clutch face 36 that is normally engaged by a co-acti'ng clutchface of a slidable clutch member 3? keyed to the said action shaft themovable clutch member being normallyheld. in engagement with the clutchface 36 by a spring 38 positioned upon the shaft and having one endabutted. against the end of the slidab-le clutch member and the otherend against a collar 39 secured upon said action shaft. This obviouslyaffords a positive friction drive, in relation to the timing, as betweenthe driven operating shaft 17 and the action shaft, the clutch being soarranged and the resistance of the spring so proportioned as to causethe clutch to automatically throw out under an excessive load and to beengaged by pawl a3 and held in the disengaged position until theoperator can rectify the cause of trouble.

I also provide in connection with this clutch connection a. handoperable device which as will be seen consists of a lever 40 pivoted at41 to the bed of the machine and carrying a roll that engages theannular groove in the slidable clutch member so that the same mayreadily be thrown back against the action of the spring by themanipulation of the lever. In this respect it will also be observed thatT have provided upon this lever l0 a. lug as to engage the pawl 43pivotally mounted upon a. bracket a l secured to the bed of the machine.This obviously is for the purpose of holding the movable clutch memberout ofengagement with the driven clutch member when the lever is thrownback to disengage the parts. This action shaft includes an eccentric 45which actuates the feed mechanism later to be eX- plained. it alsoincludes a cam 46 for throwing a lever which in turn operates a slidethat carries a mandrel for engaging the free end of the spokes whichfeature will also again and more fully be referred to. Upon the end ofthe shafi; 82 is mounted a hand wheel 47 by means of which the machinemay be operated to a limited extent by hand as when adjusting orrepairing the machine.

The gear 48 positioned upon the action shaft serves to drive a gear 49mounted upon a stud secured to the frame of the machine. This gear issecured to a gear 50 forming the driving member of a Geneva movementandof which the other member 51 is secured upon the feed shaft 52. ThisGeneva movement operatively connects the action shaft with the feedshaft so that the latter is intermittently operated to feed the spokesfrom the hopper one by one to the respective operating stations.

The hopper of the machine for containing the spokes is made in twoparts, one of which I will designates as a fixed member 53 and theotheras an adjustable member 54. These two parts form the opposite sideportions of the hopper and when positioned as shown in the drawing leavea space 55 therebetween, said spaces vary ing of course with theparticular setting of the movable hopper member made neces sary by theparticular make of the spoke to be headed. These hopper members aresupported upon the frame member 3% (see Fig. 4) and each includes abearing 56 in which the rocker shaft 57 is mounted. This rocker shaft issufficiently long as shown in Fig. 4f to be supported by the movablemember 5% of the hopper, whether in a closed position shown in fulllines in said figure or if positioned out further as indicated by thedotted lines in the same figure. The

rocker shaft carries an inwardly disposed arm 58 having a pointed headpositioned to engage the sides of the spoke in a, way to lift and shiftthe same for the purpose of agitation, so as to properly align them inthe race way 59 of the throat of the hopper. This rocker shaft isprovided with a short arm 60 to which the end of the linkfil forming apart of the before mentioned eccentric 45 is pivotally conn cted. Asaresult of the operation of the agitator the spokes are fed from thehopper down through the race-way where they are supported upon theperipheral surface of the disks 62 and 63 mounted upon the beforementioned feed shaft 52. This pair of disks is-provided in theirperiphery with a series of notches spaced at an equal distance apart andthe disks are positioned upon the shaft so that the notches align. onewith the otherand form a holding and carrying means for theyspokes asindicated in Fig. 7. The inner disk 62 is fixed upon the shaft 52 whilethe associate disk (33 is made adjustableylongitudinally upon the shaft,as is the one member of the hopper to accommodate different lengths, ofspokes. These disks together with their shaft are intermittent- 1yrotated one-eighth of a turn in the carrying of the spoke from thehopper to the heading die. This is a clockwise rotation and thus carriesthe spoke down from the hopper (see Fig. 7) and around under and up tothe opposite side, it being held in the notches during said travel bythe guide plate 6% until the end of the wire is brought between theheading dies 65 and 66. While in this position the before mentioned cam46 acts to throw its lever 67, pivotally mounted at 68, in a way to movethe slide 69 and its mandrel post 71 forward toengage the spoke andmoveit forward sothat its end will project sufliciently beyond the face ofthe heading dies as to provide sufficient stock for the head. The slide69v is mounted to reciprocate in the way70. of the machine and the est"('1 carried thereon is made adjustable lengthwise of the slide andsecured in any desired position by the screw 72 by means of which theopposite sic es of the post are clamped to the rib 7 3 formed on the topside of the slide. This post is obviously made adjustable to accommodatedifferent lengths of spokes and so as to accurately position the spoklcsasbetween the dies,

The fixed die 65 is mounted in die block 7% which is adjustably securedwithin the bed by means of the wedge and screw 75. This block alsoserves to carry the holder 76 for the fixed member of the bending die 77which is positioned just above the heading die and in line to beoperated upon at the next indexing station of the carrying disks so thatthe bending-operation on one spoke will be performed as the finaloperation at the same instant that the head ing operation is performedon another spoke at the preceding station. The movable heading die 66 issecured within a slidable die block 78 mounted in away of the bed andprovided with a roll 79 that is designed to be engaged by the camportion 80 of the oscillatory cam lever 81. A spring 82 positioned asbetween the bed and the slidable die block serves to normal ly hold thedies open when the cam lever 11 is positioned to permit of the said dieblock being thrown back by said spring. The movable bending (lie 83 isalso car-- ried by the movable die block "8 and is in the nature of amale die. lit serves to engage the side of the neck portion of the spokeimmediately beneath the head, and by its forward thrust shoves the neckportion of the spoke against the round face of the fixed or female diein. a way to bend the spoke and deflect the head at sub-- stantially aright angle to the length of the spoke. The spokes are thus uniformlybent one at a time, but in quick succession and are immediately releasedas the dies are withdrawn and each spoke of its own weight falls throughthe guide way designated as 84.

The heading punch 85 which aligns with the position of the closedheading dies is carried in a holder 86 adjustably supported in theforward end of the reci 'irocatory slide 87 and is backed by a block 88and a wedge 89 both positioned in the slide and arranged to accommodateand accurately adjust different sizes and character of punches. Theslide is mounted to reciprocate in the bed of the machine and is actuated in its forward throw'by the before mentioned cam 25 mounted uponthe operating shaft and normally held in position against the cam towithdraw the punch from the headed spoke by a spring 90 as shown in Fig.5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a wire heading and bending ma chine, the combination with ahopper, a rotatable carrier to take spokes from the hopper, said carriercomprising a rotary annular member having peripheral notches into whichthe spoke blanks drop, means for intermittently rotating the carrier tofeed the spokes from station to station, heading dies positionedadjacent to the carrier, means for heading one end portion of a spokewhile in said dies, and bending device an ranged adjacent to the headingdies to bend the neck portion of the spoke after the head has beenformed 2. In a wire heading and bending machine, the combination with ahopper, a

rotatable carrier to take spokes from the hopper, means forintermittently rotating the carrier to feed the spokes from station tostation, heading dies positioned adjacent to the carrier, means formoving the spokes longitudinally in the carrier and between the headingdies, means for heading one end portion of a spoke While in said dies,and bending device arranged adjacent to the heading dies to bend theneck portion of the spoke after the head has been formed.

in a wire heading and bending machine, the combination with a hopper, arotatable carrier to take spokes from the hopper, said carriercomprising a rotary annular member having peripheral notches into whichthe spoke blanks drop, means for intermittently rotating the carrier tofeed the spokes, dies to engage one end of the spoke to head the same,bending device in the path of movement of said headed spoke adapted toengage and bend the end portion of the spoke neg-1t adjoining the head.

4:. In a Wire heading and bending machine, the combination with ahopper, a rotatable carrier to take spokes from the hopper, means forintermittently rotating the carrier to feed the spokes, means for movingthe spokes longitudinally in the carrier, dies to engage one end of thespoke to head the same, bending device in the path of movement of saidheaded spoke adapted to engage and bend the end portion of the spokenext adjoining the head.

5. In a spoke heading machine, a spoke carrier, bending dies adapted tooperate upon a spoke While in the carrier, and means for operating thebending dies in a Way to bend the spoke and simultaneously remove itfrom the carrier.

6, In a spoke heading and bending machine, a spoke carrier, heading diesadapted to operate upon a spoke While in the carrier, bending dies alsoadapted to operate upon a spoke While in the carrier, and means foroperating the bending dies in a Way to bend the spoke and simltaneouslyremove it from the carrier.

7. In a spoke heading and bending machine, the combination of a hopper,a pair of rotatable disks forming a carrier having spaced around pocketsto receive and carry the spokes from the hopper, means forintermittently rotating said carrier predetermined distances tooperating stations, heading dies in alignment With one of said stationsof the carrier, bending dies in alignment With another of said stations,and means for operating the bending mechanism in a Way to bend the spokeand simultaneously remove it from the carrier.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination With headingdies, of a carrier for feeding the spokes in alignment therewith, meansfor moving the spokes longitudinallyin said carrier for positioning inthe heading dies, and means for bending the spoke adjacent to the headafter the head has been formed.

9. The combination with a carrier for in termittently feeding a seriesof-spokes predetermined distances to operating stat-ions, of headingdies positioned adjacent one'of said operation stations of the carrier,and adapted to head the successive spokes as'they are brought intoposition, and bending mechanism positioned adjacent the next operatingstation of the carrier for successively performing the bending operationon the spokes immediately following the heading operation, and duringthe heading operation on the next following spoke. v

10. In a spoke machine, the combination With a hopper designed toreceive a series of spokes, means for adjusting the hopper in thedirection of the length of the spokes to accommodate spokes of differentlengths. a feeding device including spaced apart rotatable disks toreceive the spokes from the hopper and to convey them to operatingtools, said spaced apart disks being made adjustable to and from eachother to ac commodate spokes of different. lengths, and longitudinaladjustable means adapted to feed the spokes longitudinally into relationWith the operating tools.

11. In a Wire spoke machine, the combination With a hopper forcontaining spokes to be operated upon, a feeding device for conveyingthe spokes from the hopper and comprising a shaft, a pair of rotatabledisks mounted thereon, said disks being adjustable upon the shaft Withrelation to each other to better accommodate spokes of differentlengths, means for intermittently rotating the shaft and disks to feedthe spokes, and longitudinally adjustable means adapted to feed thespokes longitudinally into position to be operated upon.

12. The combination of a hopper for holding Wire spokes, an operatingshaft, means connected With the shaft for agitating the spokes in thehopper to feed the spokes, a second shaft'connected to be intermittentlyoperated by the first mentioned shaft, feeding device mounted upon thesecond shaft to receive and convey the spokes from the hopper, means forshoving the spokes for- Ward to predetermined positions and con nectionswith the first mentioned shaft for operating said spoke shoving device.

13. In a machine of the character described, the combination vvith ahopper adapted to be adjusted longitudinally of the length of the spokesto be carried therein, a rotatable device to receive the spokes from thehopper and including two members adjustable With relation to each otherin the direction of the length of the spoke to better lUU support theend portions of spokes of different lengths, means for moving the spokeslengthwise in the carrier, and mechanism for adjusting the said spokemoving device to accommodate spokes of different lengths.

14. In a spoke heading and bending machine, the combination with anoperating shaft, a friction clutch through which the shaft is driven, arotatable carrier operated by said shaft for intermittently feeding aseries of spokes predetermined distances to operating stations. headingdies positioned in alignment with one of said operating stations andadapted to head the successive spokes as they are brought into position,bending mechanism positioned in alignment with the next operatingstation of the carrier for successively performing the bending operationon the spokes immediately following the heading operation and during theheading operation on the next following spoke.

15. In a spoke heading and bending machine, the combination with arotatable carrier for intermittently feeding a series of spokes, meansfor rotating the carrier predetermined distances from one operatingstation to another, heading dies positioned in line with one of saidoperation stations, bending mechanism positioned in line with another ofsaid operating stations, means for operating both said heading andbending mechanisms, a power shaft, an action shaft for operating saidmechanisms and a friction clutch forming the driving connection betweenthe two said shafts and adapted to slip and permit the machine to stopshould it become jammed.

Signed at Essex, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut,this 16th day of February, A. D. 1922.

AXEL L. OLSON. Witnesses:

ERICK V. GARLsoN, ALYOT E. BRANT.

